For the last year or so I’ve been spending a couple days a week in the Bay Area for work. I wish I had thought of it earlier, but I finally brought a bike out there in July to explore.
Most weeks I can fit in 2 rides. For the birthplace of mountain biking there is a surprisingly low number of purpose-built bike trails in the area. Lots of hiking trails, most of which don’t allow bikes. The ones that do are often loose gravel, sharp turns, no berms, etc.. A lot of what I find on YT, Reddit, MTBR, etc. turns out to be fire roads. Marin County in particular is in the middle of a years-long court battle against hiking groups for trail access.
But I’ve checked out trail systems from Santa Cruz to Marin, Mt Diablo, Livermore and found a few gems. Still a few more spots to check out before I zero in on the ones I like and stick to them.
This week the bike was squealing like a stuck pig. I thought it was just due for a shock service but then found a crack in the rear triangle where the seat stays connect to each other. The local shop says Trek will warranty it but they haven’t asked if I’m the original owner, and I’m not. We’ll see.
I didn’t bring out the GoPro until this past week so I only have footage from one ride. Video to follow once I get it uploaded.
In the meantime, here are some shots of my bike leaning against stuff. Most of these are in the hills above Oakland and on the Coastal Trail in the Marin Headlands